About how many grams are we talking about? What's your disired dose for a strong single, or is it a week double? It seems to me that, if the single basket is too small, the double will do fine even when it's not full.

***"This drink of the Satan is so delicious that it would be a shame to leave it to the infidels." (Pope Clement VIII on coffee, when he was urged to ban the beverage)

I've been using VST 15 gram baskets on a Gaggia - they should fit a Rancilio as well.

Although they are rated for 14-16grams, I find 12 grams will still expand to show an impression of the shower screen - at least on my machine it does. I've dosed as low as 9 grams in this basket and as high as 16 grams but I find 12 grams to be the sweet spot for the particular coffee I'm roasting these days.

One odd thing though ... I haven't tried any other size VST baskets so I don't know if this is unique to the 15g baskets or something else ... but regardless of the dose or grind or prep (etc.) the pucks will not knock out of these baskets. I always have to scrape the puck out with a finger. It's a minor annoyance - the shots are fantastic (though I think I get just as good of shots from my micro-fine 14g basket that cost 1/6 as much and the pucks knock out of that basket without any problem)

I guess what I'm really looking for is a "normal" strength pull in between a single and a double.

I haven't had good success when I underfill my double basket.

I think I'll try a micro-fine double like AndyPanda describes, assuming I can underfill it. The VST is a little steep for my budget right now (a lot of Silvia renovations this past year, and my daughter insists on continuing with her college education).

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